2. We may say that there is a procession from the First to the last;
and in this procession each occupies its proper place. The begotten
(being) is subordinated to the begetting (being). On the other hand,
it becomes similar to the thing to which it attaches, so long as it
remains attached thereto. When the soul passes into the plant, there
is one of her parts that unites thereto (the power of growth); but
besides, it is only the most audacious[271] and the most senseless
part of her that descends so low. When the soul passes into the brute,
it is because she is drawn thereto by the predominance of the power
of sensation.[272] When she passes into man, it is because she is led
to do so by the exercise of discursive reason, either by the movement
by which she proceeds from Intelligence, because the soul has a
characteristic intellectual power, and consequently has the power to
determine herself to think, and in general, to act.